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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF ALASKA 

ROCKY N. SEAMAN, 

Appellant, 

v. 

STATE OF ALASKA, 

Appellee. 

Court of Appeals No. A-13555 

Trial Court No. 3KN-19-00198 CI 

O P I N I O N 

No. 2708 — September 24, 2021 

Appeal from the Superior Court, Third Judicial District, Kenai, 

Jason M. Gist, Judge. 

Appearances: Rocky N. Seaman, in propria persona, Wasilla, 

Appellant. Matthias R. Cicotte, Assistant Attorney General, 

Department of Law, Anchorage, and Clyde “Ed” Sniffen Jr., 

Acting Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee. 

Before: Allard, Chief Judge, and Wollenberg and Terrell, 

Judges. 

Judge ALLARD. 

In this appeal, we are asked to interpret the term “active term of 

imprisonment” as it applies to a defendant’s eligibility for discretionary parole under 

AS 33.16.090. The Department of Corrections interprets this term to include a 

defendant’s total term of imprisonment without any deductions for statutory good time 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

credit. The appellant in this case, Rocky N. Seaman, asserts that the term “active term 

of imprisonment” includes the deduction for statutory good time credit, and Seaman 

argues that Alaska’s truth-in-sentencing statute, AS 12.55.015(g), requires the 

Department of Corrections to subtract a defendant’s statutory good time from the total 

termofimprisonmentbeforecalculatingadefendant’seligibilityfor discretionary parole. 

For the reasons explained in this opinion, wereject Seaman’s interpretation 

of the term, and we affirm the judgment of the superior court dismissing Seaman’s 

application for post-conviction relief. 

Factual and procedural background 

Seaman was convicted, following a jury trial, of conspiracy to kidnap and 

murder his brother’s girlfriend.1 He received a sentence of 70 years to serve. 

In 2019, Seaman filed a pro se application for post-conviction relief 

alleging that the Department of Corrections had miscalculated the date on which he 

would become eligible for discretionary parole. According to the application, the 

Department of Corrections had calculated Seaman’s discretionary parole eligibility date 

as November 10, 2028. But, according to Seaman, his discretionary parole eligibility 

date should have been February 18, 2018. 

Seaman attributed the difference in the eligibility dates to the Department 

of Corrections’ interpretation of the term “active term of imprisonment.” The 

Department of Corrections interpreted the term “active term of imprisonment” as 

including the total term of imprisonment that Seaman had been sentenced to serve 

without any deductions for statutory good time credit. Seaman argued that this was an 

Seaman v. State, 2016 WL 5956639, at *1-2 (Alaska App. Oct. 12, 2016) 

(unpublished). 

– 2 – 2708
 

1 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

erroneous interpretation of Alaska law, and he asserted that AS 12.55.015(g) — one of 

the provisions of Alaska’s truth-in-sentencing statute — required the Department of 

Corrections to subtract a defendant’s statutory good time credit when calculating a 

defendant’s “active term of imprisonment” for purposes of determining the defendant’s 

eligibility for discretionary parole. 

Seaman acknowledged that a similar argument had been rejected by this 

Court in a 2008 unpublished decision, Perotti v. State.

2 But Seaman argued that this 

unpublished case should not be treated as persuasive authority because it was wrongly 

decided.3 Seaman also argued that there had been developments in the law since Perotti 

was issued — namely, a 2016 amendment to the discretionary parole statute4 and a 2011 

decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court5 — that showed that Perotti was wrongly 

decided. 

The superior court rejected Seaman’s legal arguments, concluding that 

Perotti remained persuasive authority and that the Department of Corrections’ 

interpretation of “active term of imprisonment” was correct. The court then dismissed 

Seaman’s application for post-conviction relief. 

This appeal followed. 

2 Perotti v. State, 2008 WL 2469147 (Alaska App. June 18, 2008) (unpublished). 

3 Cf. McCoy v. State, 80 P.3d 757, 764 (Alaska App. 2002) (holding that unpublished 

decisions of the Court of Appeals may not be cited as binding authority for any proposition 

of law, although they may be cited for whatever persuasive value they may have). 

4 See former AS 33.16.090(b)(8) (2017). 

5 State v. Leathers, 799 N.W.2d 606 (Minn. 2011). 

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6 Some prisoners are statutorilyineligible for good time credit based on their crime. See 

AS 33.20.010(a)(1)-(4); see also State v. McCallion, 875 P.2d 93, 95-97 (Alaska App. 1994) 

(describing the history of good time credit under both federal and Alaska law). 

7 See AS 33.20.050. 

8 AS 33.20.030. 

9 AS 33.20.040(a). 

10 Id.; see also AS 33.16.020. 

11 See Thomas v. State, 413 P.3d 1207, 1212 (Alaska App. 2018). 

– 4 – 2708
 

Seaman’s argument regarding AS 12.55.015(g) and his eligibility 

for discretionary parole 

Under AS 33.20.010(a), most prisoners who are sentenced to a term of 

imprisonment that exceeds 3 days are “entitled to a deduction of one-third of the term of 

imprisonment . . . if the prisoner follows the rules of the correctional facility in which the 

prisoner is confined.”6 This is commonly referred to as “good time credit.” A prisoner 

who is eligible for good time credit can still lose all or part of that credit if the prisoner 

does not follow the Department of Corrections’ rules.7 

Whenaprisoner has served their termofimprisonment minusthededuction 

for good time credit, the prisoner is released from prison.8 If the prisoner’s term of 

imprisonment is 2 years or more, the prisoner is released on supervised mandatory parole 

“until the expiration of the maximum term to which the prisoner was sentenced.”9 In 

other words, if a prisoner’s term of imprisonment is 2 years or more, the prisoner serves 

their good time on supervised mandatory parole release under the custody and 

jurisdiction of the Alaska Parole Board.10 

Mandatory parole is different than discretionary parole, which is provided 

only at the discretion of the parole board.11 As a general matter, a defendant becomes 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eligible for discretionary parole after they have served a specified portion of their 

sentence, which is often significantly earlier than their release date for mandatory 

parole.12 In the current case, the parties agree that Seaman’s eligibility for discretionary 

parole is governed by the pre-2019 version of AS 33.16.090(b)(1). This provision 

provides, in relevant part, that a prisoner “may not be released on discretionary parole 

until the prisoner has served . . . one-third of the active termof imprisonment imposed.”13 

Alaska Statute 33.16.090(c)(1) further providesthat, asused in this section, 

“active term of imprisonment” has the meaning given in AS 12.55.127. That statute 

defines “active term of imprisonment” as “the total term of imprisonment imposed for 

a crime, minus suspended imprisonment.”14 The parties agree that “suspended time” is 

the portion of a defendant’s sentence that the defendant does not serve but that can be 

imposed in the future if the defendant violates their conditions of probation.15 (In 

Seaman’s case, there is no suspended time because he received a flat sentence of 70 years 

to serve without a probationary term.) 

Where the parties disagree is whether the term “active term of 

imprisonment” includes a deduction for the defendant’s statutory good time credit when 

calculating Seaman’s eligibility date for discretionary parole.16 

The Department of Corrections’ position is that the term “active term of 

imprisonment” does not include any deductions for statutory good time credit. The 

12 See AS 33.16.090(b). Some prisoners are statutorily ineligible for discretionary 

parole. See, e.g., AS 33.16.090(a). 

13 Former AS 33.16.090(b)(1) (2018). 

14 AS 12.55.127(e)(1). 

15 See AS 12.55.080. 

16 See former AS 33.16.090(b)(1) (2018). 

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Department of Corrections bases its interpretation on the plain language of 

AS 12.55.127, which divides a defendant’s sentence into two parts — the “active” term 

of imprisonment and any “suspended” term of imprisonment.17 Because statutory good 

time credit is not a “suspended” term of imprisonment, the Department of Corrections 

reasons that a defendant’s statutory good time credit must be included in the calculation 

ofadefendant’s activetermofimprisonment for purposes ofdetermining thedefendant’s 

eligibility for discretionary parole. For example, in Seaman’s case, his “active term of 

imprisonment” is 70 years, so according to the Department of Corrections’ calculations, 

Seaman will not be eligible for discretionary parole until he serves one-third of that time 

— i.e., until he serves roughly 23.3 years. 

In contrast, Seaman argues that a defendant’s “active term of 

imprisonment” should include a deduction for the defendant’s statutory good time 

credit.18 Thus, under Seaman’s interpretation of the statute, his “active term of 

imprisonment” is 46.7 years (70 years minus Seaman’s statutory good time credit of 23.3 

years), and he should be eligible for discretionary parole once he has served one-third 

of the 46.7 years — i.e., after he has served roughly 15.6 years. 

Seaman’s interpretation of “active term of imprisonment” is based on a 

statutory provision, AS 12.55.015(g), that does not directly address a defendant’s 

eligibility for discretionary parole. This provision was enacted in 1997 as part of 

17 See AS 12.55.127(e)(1) (“[A]ctive term of imprisonment” means “the total term of 

imprisonment imposed for a crime, minus suspended imprisonment[.]”); see also 

AS 33.16.090(c)(1) (“‘[A]ctive term of imprisonment’ has the meaning given in 

AS 12.55.127[.]”). 

18 See AS 33.20.010(a). 

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Alaska’s Truth in Sentencing Act.19 The purpose of the provision was to allow Alaska 

to take advantage of a federal government incentive program that provided funds for 

states that wereable to show that their prisoners were incarcerated for eighty-five percent 

of their sentences. The provision was modeled after what was called the “Minnesota 

exception,” which allowed states to reach this benchmark by excluding any periods of 

statutorily required supervised release — i.e., by excluding statutory good time credit.20 

Alaska Statute 12.55.015(g) provides that: 

Unless a defendant is ineligible for a deduction under 

AS 33.20, when a defendant is sentenced to a term of 

imprisonment of two years or more, the sentence consists of 

two parts: (1) a minimum term of imprisonment that is equal 

to not less than two-thirds of the total term of imprisonment; 

and (2) a maximum term of supervised release on mandatory 

parole that is equal to not more than one-third of the total 

term of imprisonment; the amount of time that the inmate 

actually serves in imprisonment and on supervised release is 

subject to the provisions of AS 33.20.010-33.20.060. 

In other words, for purposes of Alaska’s compliance with the federal truth-in-sentencing 

program, unless a defendant is ineligible for statutory good time credit under AS 33.20, 

a defendant’s sentence is considered to be divided into two parts — (1) the portion that 

a defendant must serve in prison before becoming eligible for mandatory parole (twothirds of the total term of imprisonment); and (2) the portion that constitutes a 

defendant’s statutory good time (one-third of the total term of imprisonment), which a 

defendant serves on supervised release under the jurisdiction of the parole board. By 

dividing a defendant’s sentence in this manner, Alaska was able to meet the federal 

19 SLA 1997, ch. 37, §2; see also Perotti v. State, 2008 WL 2469147, at *2 (Alaska App. 

June 18, 2008) (unpublished). 

20 Perotti, 2008 WL 2469147, at *2-3. 

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requirement that prisoners serve at least eighty-five percent of their sentence once their 

good time credit has been excluded.21 

The legislative history behind AS 12.55.015(g) makes clear that this 

statutory apportionment of a defendant’s sentence into two component parts was 

intended only to ensure that Alaska could be in compliance with this federal requirement. 

The legislature was otherwise assured that this provision would not affect how sentences 

were imposed or how eligibility for discretionary and mandatory parole was 

determined.22 

Notwithstanding this legislative history, Seaman argues that, by enacting 

AS 12.55.015(g), the legislature was changing the way that discretionary parole 

eligibility was determined. In essence, Seaman argues that AS 12.55.015(g) converted 

a defendant’s sentence into two parts: (1) an “active” term of imprisonment that is 

served in prison and does not include statutory good time credit; and (2) a “supervised” 

term of imprisonment that is served on mandatory parole supervised release and 

constitutes a defendant’s good time credit. Therefore, according to Seaman, the 

Department of Corrections must deduct a defendant’s statutory good time credit when 

it calculates a defendant’s “active termof imprisonment” for purposes of determining the 

defendant’s eligibility for discretionary parole under AS 33.16.090. 

There are a number of problems with this argument, as we explained in our 

prior unpublished decision in Perotti. First, it is inconsistent with the applicable 

regulations. The Alaska Administrative Code sets out a rule regarding the effect of 

21 Id. at *3-4. 

22 Id.; Minutes of House Judiciary Comm., Senate Bill 67, testimony of Brett Huber, 

legislative assistant to Senator Rick Halford (the prime sponsor) and testimony of Margot 

Knuth, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Law (Apr. 16, 1997). 

– 8 – 2708
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

accrued good time credit on the calculation of eligibility for discretionary parole. 

22 AAC 20.085(b) states: 

Good time credited under AS 33.20.010 does not reduce the 

term of imprisonment to be served before a prisoner is 

eligible for discretionary parole, except as provided for in 

AS 33.16.090(b). 

This regulation is consistent with the Department of Corrections’ practice of not 

deducting statutory good time from the calculation of a defendant’s eligibility for 

discretionary parole unless expressly required to do so by AS 33.16.090(b).23 

Second,Seaman’sinterpretationisinconsistentwith thehistoryandpractice 

of discretionary parole in Alaska. In Hampel v. State, we held that a defendant’s 

mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for purposes of determining a defendant’s 

eligibility for discretionary paroleis calculatedwithoutapplying any deductions for good 

time credit.24 We based our decision, in part, on the fact that Alaska’s discretionary and 

mandatory parole statutes were intended to be consistent with the federal statutes on 

which they were modeled, and we noted that the federal approach had always treated the 

two systems — mandatory and discretionary parole — differently. As we explained, 

“Under the federal good time system, the Bureau of Prisons applies good time credits to 

the prisoner’s maximum sentence which moves the mandatory release date forward, but 

does not affect the minimum term required to be served before an inmate becomes 

23 See AS 33.16.090(b)(3) (expressly requiring good time credits to be deducted prior 

to the calculation of discretionaryparole eligibilityfor defendants sentenced to an aggravated 

sentence above the presumptive range). 

24 Hampel v. State, 911 P.2d 517, 522-23 (Alaska App.1996). We did not reach the 

specific legal question presented here and in Perotti — whether a deduction for good time 

credit was otherwise necessary in determining discretionary parole eligibility. Id. at 523, n.5. 

– 9 – 2708
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eligible for parole.”25 We also noted in Perotti that Alaska’s appellate courts have 

always assumed, without directly addressing the question, that good time credit was not 

deducted from a defendant’s term of imprisonment when calculating the defendant’s 

eligibility for discretionary parole.26 

Lastly, Seaman’s interpretation is inconsistent with the plain language of 

AS12.55.015(g) and theunderlying legislativeintent. Alaskahas“rejectedamechanical 

application of the plain meaning rule in favor of a sliding scale approach” to statutory 

interpretation.27 Under the sliding scale approach, when legislative intent conflicts with 

plain meaning, we seek a balance between the two: “the plainer the language of the 

statute, the more convincing contrary legislative history must be.”28 

Here, the legislative intent is aligned with the plain language of the statute. 

When the legislature enacted AS 12.55.015(g), they were told that the purpose of the 

provision was to create compliance with the federal truth-in-sentencing grant program.29 

And they were also told that the provision would not alter any existing law regarding 

how sentences are imposed or how eligibility for discretionary and mandatory parole is 

determined.30 

25 Id. at 523 (quoting Moss v. Clark, 886 F.2d 686, 688 (4th Cir. 1989)). 

26 Perotti, 2008 WL 2469147, at *2 (citations omitted). 

27 Hampel, 911 P.2d at 522. 

28 Id. 

29 See Minutes of House Judiciary Comm., Senate Bill 67, testimony of Brett Huber, 

legislative assistant to Senator Rick Halford (the prime sponsor) and testimony of Margot 

Knuth, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Law (Apr. 16, 1997). 

30 Id. 

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In keeping with that legislative intent, AS 12.55.015(g) does not use the 

term “active term of imprisonment,” the term used in the discretionary parole statute, 

AS 33.16.090. Instead, AS 12.55.015(g) uses different statutory terms — referring to 

a defendant’s “minimum term of imprisonment,” a defendant’s “total term of 

imprisonment,” and a defendant’s “maximum term of supervised release on mandatory 

parole.” 

As already mentioned, the term “active term of imprisonment” has a 

specialized statutory meaning. It means “the total term of imprisonment imposed for a 

crime, minus suspended imprisonment.”31 In other words, as the Department of 

Corrections has always interpreted it, a defendant’s “active term of imprisonment” for 

purposes of determining discretionary parole is all of the non-suspended time imposed 

in the defendant’s sentence, which includes both the time that the defendant will serve 

in prison as well as any time the defendant may serve on supervised mandatory parole 

based on statutory good time credits. 

There are other sentencing statutes that use “active term of imprisonment” 

in this manner. For example, AS 12.55.155(a)(2), which governs aggravators and 

mitigators in presumptive sentencing, provides, in relevant part, 

Except as provided in (e) of this section, if a defendant is 

convicted of an offense and is subject to sentencing under 

AS 12.55.125(c), (d), (e), or (i) and . . . the low end of the 

presumptive range is more than four years, the court may 

impose a sentence below the presumptive range as long as the 

active term of imprisonment is not less than 50 percent of the 

low end of the presumptive range for factors in mitigation or 

may increase the active term of imprisonment up to the 

maximum term of imprisonment for factors in aggravation. 

31 AS 12.55.127(e)(1). 

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In this provision, it is clear that “active term of imprisonment” includes the full amount 

of non-suspended imprisonment, without any deductions for good time credit. Thus, if 

a defendant’s presumptive range is 6 to 8 years with a maximum sentence of 10 years, 

and there is a statutory mitigating factor that applies to their case, the sentencing court 

is authorized to impose a sentence of 3 years or more. Conversely, if a statutory 

aggravator applies, the sentencing court is authorized to impose up to 10 years. In either 

case, however, the “active term of imprisonment” refers to the full term of nonsuspended imprisonment prior to any deductions for good time credit. 

Moreover, a review of the discretionary parole statutes demonstrates that 

when the legislature intends for statutory good time credits to be deducted from the 

calculation of a defendant’s eligibility for discretionary parole, the legislature does so in 

a clear and unambiguous manner. For example, a different rule applies to defendants 

who have been sentenced to enhanced — i.e., aggravated — sentences under 

AS 12.55.155(a). Under AS 33.16.090(b)(3), a defendant who is sentenced to a single 

enhanced sentenceunder AS12.55.155(a) that is abovetheapplicablepresumptiverange 

may not be released on discretionary parole until the defendant has served the greater of 

the following: 

(A) an amount of time, less good time earned under 

AS 33.20.010, equal to the upper end of the presumptive 

range plus one-fourth of the amount of time above the 

presumptive range; or 

(B) any term set under AS 12.55.115.[32] 

The legislature’s inclusion of the language “less good time earned under AS 33.20.010” 

in AS 33.16.090(b)(3) and the absence of that language in former AS 33.16.090(b)(1) 

32 AS 33.16.090(b)(3)(A) & (B) (emphasis added). 

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indicates that the legislature did not intend statutory good time credits to be deducted 

from a defendant’s “active term of imprisonment” unless it expressly said so. 

Ultimately, the proper interpretation of a criminal statute is a question of 

law that we review de novo using our independent judgment.33 When interpreting a 

statute using our independent judgment, we will adopt the rule of law that is most 

persuasive in light of precedent, reason, and policy, after considering: (1) the plain 

meaning of the statute; (2) the legislative purpose of the statute; and (3) the intent of the 

statute.34 Here, the plain meaning of the relevant statutes, the associated legislative 

history, and the history and practice of discretionary parole all support the Department 

of Corrections’ position that a defendant’s “active term of imprisonment” for purposes 

of determining a defendant’s discretionary parole eligibility does not include a deduction 

for statutory good time credit unless otherwise specified by statute.35 

Accordingly, we conclude that our decision in Perotti is correct and 

Seaman’s interpretation of the statute is incorrect, and that the superior court therefore 

did not err when it relied on Perotti to dismiss Seaman’s application for post-conviction 

relief. 

We now turn to Seaman’s additional arguments that there have been 

developments in the law since Perotti that should alter this conclusion. 

33 See Callan v. State, 904 P.2d 856, 857 (Alaska App. 1995); Hillman v. State, 382 P.3d 

1198, 1200 (Alaska App. 2016). 

34 Rubey v. Alaska Comm’n on Postsecondary Educ., 217 P.3d 413, 415 (Alaska 2009). 

35 See 22 AAC 20.085; Hampel v. State, 911 P.2d 517, 522-23 (Alaska App. 1996); 

Perotti v. State, 2008 WL 2469147, at *1-4 (Alaska App. June 18, 2008) (unpublished). 

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Seaman’s arguments regarding former AS 33.16.090(b)(8) and the 

Minnesota Supreme Court case State v. Leathers 

Seaman points to two developments in the law that have occurred since 

Perotti was decided, and he asserts that these developments show that Perotti was 

wrongly decided. 

One development in the law that Seaman points to is the enactment of 

former AS 33.16.090(b)(8) in 2016.36 (This provision was later repealed by the 

legislature in 2019.37) Former AS 33.16.090(b)(8) provided, in pertinent part, that a 

defendant 

sentenced . . . to a single sentence under AS 12.55.125(i)(3) 

and (4), and has not been allowed by the three-judge panel 

under AS 12.55.175 to be considered for discretionary parole 

release, may not be released on discretionary parole until the 

prisoner has served, after a deduction for good time earned 

under AS 33.20.010, one-half of the active term of 

imprisonment imposed. 

In other words, a defendant sentenced for certain lower-level sex offenses such as 

second-degree sexual assault or third-degree sexual assault, who has not been made 

eligible for discretionary parole through the three-judge panel, is eligible to be released 

on discretionary parole after serving one-half of the defendant’s active term of 

imprisonment from which the defendant’s statutory good time credit has been deducted. 

Seamanacknowledges that thisprovision does not applyto him, and healso 

acknowledges that it has since been repealed. However, he argues that, by enacting 

AS 33.16.090(b)(8), the legislature created ambiguity in the discretionary parole statute 

regarding the meaning of “active term of imprisonment.” Because the meaning of the 

36 See SLA 2016, ch. 36, § 124. 

37 See SLA 2019, ch. 4, § 107. 

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term is now ambiguous, according to Seaman, we must construe its meaning in favor of 

Seaman.38 

We do not find this argument persuasive. The meaning of the term “active 

term of imprisonment” was not made ambiguous by the new provision that was 

subsequently repealed. Instead, we agree with the Department of Corrections that the 

enactment of this provision lends further support to its position that statutory good time 

credits should not be deducted from a defendant’s “active term of imprisonment” unless 

a statute expressly requires such a deduction. 

The other development in the law that Seaman relies on is a 2011 decision 

by the Minnesota Supreme Court, State v. Leathers.

39 

The defendant in Leathers was convicted of five counts of first-degree 

assault against a peace officer. The court imposed concurrent sentences totaling 189 

months, with eligibility for supervised release after 126 months in prison.40 The question 

before the Minnesota Supreme Court was whether Leathers was actually eligible for 

supervised release under Minnesota law.41 The applicable statute provided, in pertinent 

part: 

[A] person convicted of assaulting a peace officer . . . is not 

eligible for probation, parole, discharge, work release, or 

38 See State v. Andrews, 707 P.2d 900, 908 (Alaska App. 1985) (“Where a statute is 

susceptible to two or more conflicting but reasonable meanings it is ambiguous. We resolve 

the ambiguity by adopting the meaning most favorable to the defendant.”). 

39 State v. Leathers, 799 N.W.2d 606 (Minn. 2011). 

40 Id. at 608. 

41 Id. at 608-09. 

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supervised release, until that person has served the full term 

of imprisonment as provided by law[.][42] 

The statutory term “full term of imprisonment” is not defined under Minnesota law and 

the parties disagreed about the meaning of that phrase.43 The State argued that “full term 

of imprisonment” meant all the time that had been imposed, and that Leathers would 

therefore never be eligible for supervised release.44 Leathers argued that “full term of 

imprisonment” should be interpreted as meaning only two-thirds of the time imposed.45 

Leathers derived this argument from the statutory language of Minnesota 

Statute § 244.01, subdivision 8, Minnesota’s truth-in-sentencing statute, which was 

enacted prior to the assault statute under which Leathers was convicted.46 Minnesota 

Statute § 244.01, subdivision 8, states that the phrase “term of imprisonment” is defined 

as “the period of time equal to two-thirds of the inmate’s executed sentence.” Based on 

this definition, Minnesota was in compliance with the federal truth-in-sentencing grant 

program’s requirement that defendants serve at least eighty-fivepercent of their sentence 

in order to receive federal funding.47 

Ultimately, the Minnesota Supreme Court concluded that both 

interpretations of the term “full term of imprisonment” were reasonable interpretations 

42 Id. at 608 (quoting Minn. Stat. § 609.221, subd. 2(b) (2010)). 

43 Id. at 609. 

44 Id. 

45 Id. 

46 Id. 

47 See U.S. Gen. Acct. Off., Truth In Sentencing: Availability of Federal Grants 

Influenced Laws in Some States, at 4-7 (Feb. 1998). 

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under Minnesota law and that the statute was therefore ambiguous.48 Because the statute 

was ambiguous, the court applied the rule of lenity, and construed the statute in 

accordance with Leathers’s interpretation.49 The court also reasoned that the statutory 

interpretation doctrine of in pari materia supported this result because the two statutes 

at issue shared a common purpose and subject matter and should therefore be construed 

together.50 

Seaman relies on Leathers to argue that this court should interpret the term 

“active term of imprisonment,” as used in the Alaska discretionary parole statute, the 

same way theMinnesotaSupreme Court interpreted “full termofimprisonment,” as used 

in the Minnesota assault statute — i.e., as meaning only two-thirds of a defendant’s 

executed sentence. According to Seaman, we are required to follow the reasoning of the 

Leathers court to reach this conclusion because our truth-in-sentencing statute, 

AS 12.55.015(g), is based on the “Minnesota exception” that allowed states to achieve 

compliance with the federal truth-in-sentencing grant programby dividing a defendant’s 

sentence into two parts — “(1) a minimum term of imprisonment that is equal to not less 

than two-thirds of the total term of imprisonment; and (2) a maximum term of supervised 

release on mandatory parole that is equal to not more than one-third of the total term of 

imprisonment.”51 

48 Leathers, 799 N.W.2d at 610-11. 

49 Id. at 611. 

50 Id. 

51 AS 12.55.015(g); Perotti v. State, 2008 WL 2469147, at *3 (Alaska App. June 18, 

2008) (unpublished); cf. Minn. Stat. § 244.101, subd. 1 (1993) (“When a felony offender is 

sentenced to a fixed executed sentence for an offense committed on or after August 1, 1993, 

the executed sentence consists of two parts: (1) a specified minimum term of imprisonment 

(continued...) 

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ButSeaman’s relianceon Leathers is misplaced. Althoughboth Minnesota 

and Alaska used the “Minnesota exception” of dividing sentences into two parts, their 

statutory schemes are otherwise completely different. We do not face the ambiguity that 

the Leathers court faced in construing “full termof imprisonment” because the termused 

in Alaska’s discretionary parole statute — “active term of imprisonment” — has a 

statutory definition. Alaska Statute 33.16.090(c)(1) states that the term “active term of 

imprisonment,” as used in this subsection, has the meaning defined in 

AS 12.55.127(e)(1). And AS 12.55.127(e)(1) defines “active term of imprisonment” as 

“the total term of imprisonment imposed for a crime, minus suspended imprisonment.” 

Alaska’s truth-in-sentencing statute also does not define “term of 

imprisonment”as “two-thirds oftheinmate’s executed sentence” as Minnesota law does. 

Instead, AS 12.55.015(g) uses the term “total term of imprisonment” and it is clear from 

the statutory language that the “total term of imprisonment” includes all of the time the 

defendant is sentenced to serve before any deduction for statutory good time credit: 

Unless a defendant is ineligible for a deduction under 

AS 33.20, when a defendant is sentenced to a term of 

imprisonment of two years or more, the sentence consists of 

two parts: (1) a minimum term of imprisonment that is equal 

to not less than two-thirds of the total term of imprisonment; 

and (2) a maximum term of supervised release on mandatory 

parole that is equal to not more than one-third of the total 

term of imprisonment.

[52] 

Moreover, unlike the two Minnesota statutes at issue in Leathers, former 

AS 33.16.090(b)(1) (the Alaska discretionary parole statute that applies to Seaman’s 

51 (...continued) 

that is equal to two-thirds of the executed sentence; and (2) a specified maximum supervised 

release term that is equal to one-third of the executed sentence.”). 

52 AS 12.55.015(g) (emphasis added). 

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case) and AS 12.55.015(g) (Alaska’s truth-in-sentencing statute) are not meant to be 

construed in pari materia. That is, they do not have a common purpose and subject 

matter. It is clear that when the Alaska legislature enacted the discretionary parole 

statutes, the intent was for Alaska law to follow federal law, which does not deduct a 

defendant’s statutory good time credit when calculating a defendant’s eligibility for 

discretionary parole.53 In contrast, when theAlaskalegislatureenacted AS12.55.015(g), 

the intent was solely to define a defendant’s sentence in a manner that allowed Alaska 

to qualify for the federal truth-in-sentencing grant program.54 The enacted provision was 

not intended to affect the way that discretionary parole was calculated. 

In sum, the Leathers case is of little value when it comes to interpreting and 

implementing Alaska law. There is nothing about the reasoning or the holding of that 

case that alters our view of the issue presented here. 

For all of the reasons stated here, and in our prior unpublished decision in 

Perotti, we conclude that the Department of Corrections’ interpretation of “active term 

of imprisonment” is correct and that the Department is not required to deduct a 

defendant’s statutory good time credit when calculating a defendant’s eligibility for 

discretionary parole unless the statute expressly requires such a deduction. 

Conclusion 

The judgment of the superior court is AFFIRMED. 

53 See Hampel v. State, 911 P.2d 517, 522-23 (Alaska App. 1996). 

54 See Perotti, 2008 WL 2469147, at *2-4. 

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